


Why Are You Ignoring Me?

by NobodyOfficial



Category: The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Little bit angsty, M/M, Tumblr Prompt, arnold is sad, kevin is ace, mafala is a good dad, some chat about sexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-21 01:08:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11346828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NobodyOfficial/pseuds/NobodyOfficial
Summary: Kevin is desperately in love with Arnold, but is afraid to tell him. His solution: avoid Arnold at all costs.Arnold can't understand what he's done to make his best friend ignore him.-For a tumblr prompt: Why are you ignoring me?





	Why Are You Ignoring Me?

**Author's Note:**

> Well, it was a wild ride to get this up, let me tell you! Very sorry to anon who made the request! Anyway, no archive warnings apply but heads up for:
> 
> •People coming to terms with their sexuality (it's not angsty though, pretty chill)  
> •People being ignored (obvious)
> 
> At the beginning it kinda looks like it's gonna be a mcpricely fic but they're just bros, promise. (If you spend like two seconds on my tumblr you'll see that I'm totally arnaba/mcpricely trash, but ma boys are cute too and I'd never turn down a request [obviously within reason])
> 
> Eh, sorry, let's just get on with it.

Kevin was nervously poised on the edge of the bed, ready to leap up the second the door opened. He wanted it to look natural, like he was leaving anyway, not like he was avoiding Arnold. Because he wasn't. He wasn't avoiding Arnold. He certainly wasn't...

"Hey Kevin!"

Kevin stood up stiffly and hurried to the door. "Sorry, I was just heading out," he muttered, waiting for Arnold to move out the doorway. He didn't; instead he squared his shoulder and stood his ground.

"You can't be heading out," Arnold whined. "It's already curfew. It's an hour until lights out!" His eyes were pleading and a little scared. Kevin couldn't look at him. His heart thudded heavily against his ribcage. He looked at his shoes.

"Sorry Arnold, I have to go," he said more firmly, turning Arnold sideways and slipping past him in to the communal area.

"But-" Arnold's eyes shone in the dim light. He looked like he was about to cry.

"Sorry," Kevin said again, turning his back. He heard the door shut softly and something clenched in his chest. It had never been his intention to hurt Arnold, in fact quite the opposite, but things seemed to be getting out of hand. At first it had been easy to make excuses for why they shouldn't hang out: he was tired, Arnold needed to work, James needed his help with something. But now he just found himself running away from Arnold, and it was making the poor boy confused.

It was quiet in the centre, almost all the elders having retired to bed, but Kevin was grateful to find Connor still on the sofa, curled up reading a book. He desperately needed to talk to him.

"Hey." Kevin sat down opposite him.

"Hey." Connor smiled warmly and put his book down, but Kevin could sense the underlying tension.

"You don't have to pretend you didn't hear that," he sighed. "I feel terrible."

Connor swung his legs off the sofa and rested his elbows on his knees, giving Kevin his full attention. "Yeah, you have been avoiding your mission companion lately. Did you two fall out?"

"No. Well, maybe now." Kevin willed himself to continue talking, but the words stuck in his throat. He'd been picturing this conversation with Connor for weeks now and it had always flowed so smoothly, but now he couldn't even bring himself to look Connor in the eye.

"What happened?" Connor prompted.

"Can I ask you something?" Kevin said instead, not wanting to jump right in.

"Of course, anything." Connor waited patiently, but Kevin didn't speak. He had a million questions, but didn't know which ones were appropriate, which ones would make Connor uncomfortable. "Anything," Connor repeated reassuringly.

"Ok." Kevin drew in a deep breath. "Umm, when you were younger, how did you know that you umm, liked Steve? Like liked him. You don't have to answer if you don't want to! Sorry!" Flushed and embarrassed he started to get up, but Connor shook his head quickly.

"No no! It's fine," he said brightly. "I spent so long not talking about my feelings I think it'll be nice to tell someone. It was a while ago though, bear with me. Umm... We were just good friends to begin with, we liked the same stuff. I guess I found his face aesthetically pleasing, but that's nothing, I thought that about a lot of people. But then one day he gave me this tape recording he'd made of a dance show, because he knew I loved tap dancing, and it was such an innocent, small gesture, but I thought about it all day. I thought about him all day. I thought about all our previous interactions and suddenly they seemed so... Flirtatious, with so much more subtext.

"I started being more friendly around him and making up excuses to talk to him. Sometimes I'd day dream about us spending time together; sometimes I'd literally dream about it! I realised that other people didn't tend to think about their friends like this, so I guess then I realised I thought of him as more than a friend. Obviously as I got older and the day dreams got a bit more... Sexual, that was a dead giveaway."

He paused, then grinned cheekily. "Why? Think you might be gay?"

Kevin thought about everything Connor had just mentioned, trying to determine if his suspicions were correct. He certainly found Arnold appealing to look at. His face was round and sweet and when he smiled he scrunched his whole face up. Every movement he made seemed bouncy and full of energy. If anything he found Arnold too appealing to look at, as he was often found staring and had to look away uncomfortably.

There hadn't been an exact moment he started to feel differently about Arnold. Each day his feelings grew a little stronger until all Kevin could think about was Arnold: holding Arnold's hands, watching films with Arnold, kissing Arnold. He felt awful for ignoring him so suddenly, casting him out of his life, but he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to contain his emotions around Arnold. Their friendship was of great value to him and he was afraid he'd ruin it.

However when it came to the sexual thoughts, Kevin was at a loss. He didn't believe he'd ever had a sexual thought in his life. Well, that wasn't exactly true. Occasionally he conjured up images of what he thought sex would be like, as he was told that was something people usually did, but those thoughts never interested him. His mind would very quickly wander to other places. Kevin didn't want to confess his feelings to Arnold, only to find out that he wasn't really attracted to him at all and was actually just having some weird best friend thoughts.

"Do you have to have sexual thoughts to be gay?" He asked Connor.

"Well," Connor furrowed his brow, "I'm not an expert, I've only just accepted my own sexuality, but I don't think so. I've done some research and there's a whole community of people all with different sexualities and genders. It's kinda cool. And apparently there are plenty of people who don't feel sexual attraction, but they still like people romantically. Asexual, I think. But it's totally a thing, don't worry."

Kevin smiled. Connor McKinley telling him not worry about his sexuality. Now there was some character development. "Then yeah, I think I might be," he said.

Connor's face lit up. "Good for you! Welcome to the community!" He shook Kevin's hand, vigorously and unnecessarily. "Now tell me who you have a crush on! Are they here in Uganda? Are they from the village?" He gasped dramatically. "Is it one of the elders?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kevin asked sheepishly. If Kevin ignoring Arnold for the past week hadn't been enough surely the other elders would have noticed his longing stares or lingering hugs in the previous weeks? Despite his best efforts he though he'd still been quite obvious.

"No." Connor looked around the empty room as if the dishes drying beside the sink would give him a clue. They were silent for a moment, Connor presumably waiting for Kevin to tell him, when Connor clicked his fingers and jumped up. "Oh my... Heavenly Father!" He exclaimed. "You like Ar-"

"Shh!" Kevin slapped a hand over Connor's mouth and sat him back down. "Shh," he begged. "You'll wake him up!"

"Wake Arnold up? Please, I can't when I try." He waved a hand airily. "But that's so cute, you guys! Aww, and you're mission companions! Adorable!" Connor squealed like a little kid and clasped his hands together in apparent awe. Kevin blushed.

"I just wanted to ask your advice," he said.

"On what?"

"You know, what to do." Kevin had vaguely liked people before, but never like this, never this intensely. He liked Arnold so much he felt like his chest was going to burst. There was no way he could contain the sense of elation he felt when he thought about him.

"Well, I'm not much help," Connor chuckled. "The only advice I have is to not repress your feelings for ten years." He paused, the offered a shrug and a smile. "So tell him how you feel, I guess. He worships you Kevin, your friendship will remain intact no matter what."

"Thanks Connor, that was actually really helpful," Kevin sighed. Although he was still unsure about facing Arnold he felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he could focus on his thoughts more clearly. He liked Arnold. He wanted to be with Arnold. He should tell Arnold this. He was still terrified.

"I should probably get to bed," Kevin said, standing up. Connor tucked his legs beneath him and picked up his book. Half way to his room Kevin stopped. "You've grown a lot recently Connor, you should be proud."

"What? Taller?" Connor asked, looking up like the ceiling would be closer.

"No," Kevin laughed. "Goodnight."

"Night, Kevin."

Arnold was asleep, curled up with a pillow clutched against his chest. He looked small and sad, like he'd fallen asleep upset. Kevin winced. Arnold never had hell dreams; he slept peacefully and dreamed about space and kittens and superheroes. But tonight his shoulders were hunched and his eyebrows drawn together and he looked altogether uncomfortable. Kevin reached out to wake him, but stopped, unsure of what he'd say. Feeling nauseous and treacherous he went to sleep instead.

~

When Arnold woke up the next morning Kevin was already gone, but that didn't surprise him. Kevin was almost never there when he woke up. Well, that wasn't exactly true, it had just been the last few days, but it felt like forever to Arnold. He'd been saving up things he wanted to talk to Kevin about and the list was getting rather long.

Standing, Arnold found that he felt stiff and tired. No matter how much he wriggled his shoulders or blinked his eyes he still felt groggy and uncomfortable. His legs were heavy as he walked to the door and he found himself dragging his feet after just a few paces.

After a shower he couldn't seem to get to the right temperature and breakfast he felt too sick to eat he decided to go see Nabulungi. Besides Kevin she was his best friend, and her sweet, cheerful attitude always made him feel better.

Mafala opened the door and welcomed Arnold inside. "Elder Cunningham, nice to see you," he smiled. "You look tired, do you feel ok? Would you like to see the doctor?"

"I'm fine thanks, Mr Hatimbi," Arnold replied. Mafala had practically adopted Arnold, always making sure he was sleeping enough and eating well and was generally happy. Arnold didn't mind, he guessed he was just doing what a dad was suppose to do.

He said hi to Nabulungi and sat down beside her, leaning his elbows on the table. "Naba, Kevin keeps ignoring me and I don't know what I've done wrong," he sighed.

"That doesn't sound like Elder Price," Nabulungi said thoughtfully. "He is normally always with you."

She was right; since running off to the bus station Kevin had always tried to stick to rule seventy two and had spent a lot of time with Arnold. Arnold was overjoyed. He'd admired Kevin for a long time and, although he'd never tell anyone, he was just a little bit in love with him. Well, maybe more than a little bit. Maybe a lot.

"Have I been extra annoying lately?" Arnold asked, tracing patterns on the wooden table.

"I don't think you're annoying. And I'm certain Kevin doesn't," Nabulungi reassured him.

"I just want him to talk to me again," Arnold said in a small voice. Kevin was funny but kind. Gentle but playful. Not only did Arnold think Kevin was great, but he made him feel great about himself.

"Well then," Nabulungi's eyes lit up, "You will just have to play the same game. Ignore Kevin until he has to talk to you."

Arnold shook his head. "But that's mean! And I want him to talk to me now!"

"But that's what he's doing to you."

Arnold supposed she was right. He desperately wanted Kevin to talk to him again, and being mean was what it took then he'd give it a go. "I guess," he shrugged.

"Good," Nabulungi smiled, getting up. "Now, our goat has just had kids, would you like to see them?"

"Your _goat_ had kids?" Arnold exclaimed, hurrying outside after her.

"Yes, kids. Baby goats," she giggled. Arnold sighed with relief. "Come on!" Nabulungi grabbed his hand and dragged him round the back of the house.

~

It was early when Kevin returned to his room, still before curfew, but he was hoping to pretend to be asleep before Arnold even got back to the centre. His plans were dashed as soon as he opened the door. Arnold was sat crosslegged on the bed, staring him down, attempting to look menacing. Kevin's heart fluttered; he just looked adorable.

"Oh, hi Arnold," he tried to say as casually as he could. Arnold huffed and flicked his hair off his face. "What's wrong?" He asked, as if he hadn't spent the past week blanking him.

Arnold broke. "Why are you ignoring me?" He wailed. "What have I done wrong? I'm sorry!" His eyes filled with tears and he bit his lip to try and stop them from falling.

Kevin felt sick. What kind of awful human being would make their best friend feel like this? "No, no," he said quickly, sitting down on Arnold's bed. "I'm sorry." Arnold grabbed handfuls of his shirt and hugged him tightly, desperately trying to pretend he wasn't crying in to his shoulder. "You've done nothing wrong," Kevin whispered in to his hair. It smelled like honey.

"Then why are you ignoring me?" Arnold sniffed.

Kevin froze. He didn't feel ready to tell Arnold about his feelings, but lying would only hurt Arnold more in the long term (Kevin had seen first hand the trouble Arnold's lies got him in to). For a long time he was quiet, gently rubbing his hand up and down Arnold's back to calm him down, enjoying what could be the last moment of their friendship.

"Ok," he murmured eventually. "Ok Arnold. I was avoiding you last week because I was afraid I'd tell you this: I like you." He continued before Arnold could interrupt. "I like you as in I'm attracted to you and you make my heart skip and you make my brain feel like mush. I'm sorry, I understand that we're just friends, please don't think any worse of me."

Arnold removed his head from Kevin's shoulder, looking worried. Kevin's stomach did a somersault and he tensed. "Are you joking?" Arnold asked softly. "Because if you are that's mean."

"What? No, no, of course not," Kevin said hurriedly. "I really like you."

Suddenly he found himself in a very tight hug again, but this time Arnold was laughing and grinning. "Awesome awesome awesome!" He hummed, bouncing a little with excitement.

Confused and a little scared, Kevin asked, "So, you don't mind then?"

"Mind?" Arnold exclaimed. "This is so awesome! I've only liked you since, like, forever!" He pulled back to beam at Kevin, then threw himself back into the hug.

Kevin didn't know what to say. He felt calmer than he had in days, especially now, with Arnold cuddled against his chest. And he felt unbelievably happy.

In the end he didn't need to say anything, because Arnold yawned and rubbed his eyes and flopped back on to the bed. "I'm so tired," he mumbled, pulling Kevin down beside him. For a second Kevin was worried about what they were going to do, but Arnold just nestled his head under Kevin's chin and closed his eyes. "I had the worst dream last night. I couldn't talk and I was super bummed out because I love talking, that reminds me I have loads of things I want to talk to you about..." He carried on in a soft, sleepy whisper, talking about Star Wars and cereal and a letter he sent home. Kevin just watched him, in awe of the fact that Arnold was his best friend. Maybe his boyfriend. They'd talk about that another time, he supposed.

Eventually Arnold fell asleep, so Kevin wriggled himself in to a slightly more comfortable position and started to drift off himself. It was the best night's sleep he'd had in his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope that was ok, I've not had as much practise writing about these two together. It was meant to be better and longer, but I just needed to get it up.
> 
> Tumblr: everyonewholovesmehasdied
> 
> Thanks for reading :)


End file.
